Quick-setting rate flow nozzle



March 20, 1951 P. E. LEHR 2,5 ,8

QUICK-SETTING RATE FLOW NOZZLE Filed Feb. 24. 1948.

INVENTOR. Paul E. Lehr,

Patented Mar. 20, 1951 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE 2,545,820 QUICKFSETTING RATE FLOW NOZZLE Paul E. Lehr, Brea, Calif.

Application February 24, 1948, Serial No. 10,308

7 Claims.

This invention relates to filling nozzles, and is particularlyapplicable to filling nozzles of the type employed in gasoline fillingstations, for replenishing gasoline in the tanks of automobiles.

The attendants in such filling stations, usually obligingly wipe oi? thewindshield of the automobile, and perform other incidental duties inconnection with the car which, of course, consume a considerable amountof their time. This time, of course, is in addition to the time whichthe attendant consumes in holding the nozzle of the hose in the tankopening while the attendant watches the dial-hand that is driven by themeter that is measuring the quantity of gasoline being delivered. In theuse of nozzles of this kind, a considerable amount of time could besaved if the attendant could leave the nozzle in place with the gasolinebeing delivered through it,

-' combinations of parts to be described hereinafter,

all of which contribute to produce an efficient quick-setting rate ilownozzle.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described inthe followingspecification, while the broad scope of the invention is pointed out inthe long enough to enable himto wipe the windshields, check the pressurein the tires, and perform other services before the quantity of gasolineordered has been delivered to the nozzle. However, the delivery nozzlesin use generally do not have any means for latching the valve in thenozzle casing in its open position, and even if such means wereprovided, the rate of flow through the nozzle with the valve wide open,would be relatively rapid, and hence an ordinary latch for latching thevalve wide open would be of slight benefit.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a fillingnozzle of this type with simple means for enabling its valve to be setquickly when desired, in .a predetermined partially open position, thatwill permit the gasoline to flow at a reduced rate, thereby increasingthe time necessary to deliver the required .amount of gasoline, andenabling the attendant to place the nozzle in the tank opening and leaveit for a few moments while he performs other services in.connect'ionwith the car.

Another object of the invention is to provide means such as describedabove, including a movably mounted hook or dog that will enable the endof the nozzle that is inserted in the tank, to be manipulated in such away that when the end of the nozzle is being hung in the tank opening,the valve will be automatically set in partially open position that willgive the desired reduced rate of flow in delivering the gasoline.

, Another object of the invention is to provide a nozzle of the typereferred "to, with a latch device capable of being readily attached tothe usual hand lever that controls the valve, and to provide a;stopmember of simple construction to be invention applied thereto.

appended claims.

In the drawing:

common type illustrating an embodiment of this In this view certainparts are broken away and shown partially in section, and such partsinclude the upper portion of the tank which is shown partially insection at the filling opening. 1

Fig. 2 is more or less of a diagrammatic nature, and illustrates thefilling opening in an inclined position, as sometimes occurs in practiceand showing the end of a nozzle hung in the opening by means of a fixedprojection or dog on the under side of the spout of the nozzle. This isa modification in which the dog on the spout is fixed, instead ofmovable as in Fig. 1.

ig 1 i lustrate a l n oz l I C 31 mon type, including a nozzle casing'2, one end" of which is coupled to a flexible gasoline hose, the brokenend of which is indicated at '3. Ihe gasoline flows through theinletduct which delivers the gasoline above the valve 4 indicated in dottedlines, and the stem -5 of this valve pro jects from the lower side ofthe casing 2 and rests against a manually operated lever which, whenoperated to open the valve, presses upwardly against the lower end ofthe stern and opens the valve against the force of its coil spring (notillustrated).

The nozzle I usually is provided with a guard '6 in the form of a bar,the ends of which are either formed integrally with the ends of thenozzle casing, or may be secured to the same by bolts or pins l and 8,as illustrated in Fig. 1. Inappjying my invention to the filling nozdlesuch as illustrated, I prefer to provide the valve lever '81 with .alatch it which is novably mounted upon it, and which co-operates with astop-member;

which stop-member is preferably carried on the bar 6 so as to projecttransversely to the same and toward the valve lever. The stop-memberillustrated is a bolt II, the threads of which are mounted in thethreaded opening I2 in the bar 6, so that the inner portion of the boltprojects toward the lever 9. This bolt is provided with one or moreshoulders such as the abrupt shoulders I3 and I4. These shoulders arepreferably annular shoulders formed by turning a tapered neck I5 on thebolt; and a tip I6 beyond the shoulder I4, which may be of cylindricalform.

The lever 9 is pivotally mounted on a bolt or pin II that passes througha fin I8 projecting downwardly from the body of the nozzle casing 2.This lever 9 has an extension I9v provided with a pad 20 that restsagainst the projecting end of the valve stem 5, and the outer portion ofthe lever is offset upwardly and bent around to form a handle orhandle-grip 2I. The end of this handle is usually guided in an openingor slot 22 formed in the extension 23 of the bar 6 that connects to theinlet end of the nozzle casing.

The body of the latch I0 is preferably in the form of a yoke presentingtwo arms such as the arm 24, and these arms are connected by a pivot pin25 to the lever. This latch is spring-biased in a direction to enable itto co-operate with the stop-member I I to hold the valve 4 in apartially open position. In the present instance a coil spring 26 may beemployed, the ends of which fit over small centering spurs 27 and 28formed respectively on the latch and on the body of the lever 9. Thelatch I9 is preferably formed by bending up a blank struck from sheetmetal, and is formed at its lower side as illustrated in Fig. 1, with adownwardly projecting tongue 29, the tip of which is held yieldingly bythe spring 26 against the side of the stop-member. The latch has anupwardly extending integral extension that is bent around to form ahandle 30, which extends along under the handle 2I of the lever and liesadjacent to the same.

In nozzles of this type, the attendant usually grasps the tubular neck3I of the nozzle in the palm of his hand and extends his fingers down toreach the lever 2!, and by pulling up on this lever the pad 20 will pushup the valve stem 5. With my nozzle as described, when this upwardmovement is given to the lever 9, the tongue 29 will first trip over theshoulder I3. When the attendant hears the accompanying click, hereleases the upward pressure on the lever handle 2 I, and this will setthe valve 4 for a slight opening which would give considerable time forthe gasoline flowing through the spout 32 of the nozzle to deliver therequired amount into the tank 33. If the customer receiving the gasolinehas ordered arelatively small number of gallons, for example, fivegallons, the attendant will leave the valve 4 in'the setting thatitwould have when the tongue 29 is resting on the first shoulder I3. Ifthe customer has ordered a considerable number of gallons, the attendantmay, if desired, use the shoulder I4 as a rest for the end of the tongue29 instead of the shoulder I3. This will set the valve 4 in a furtheropen position and give an increased rate of flow for the gasoline ascompared with the greatest reduced flow that is possible when using thshoulder I3.

I As there may be considerable variation in the rate of flow indifferent filling stations due to variations in details of the fillingapparatus, it is desirable to have the stop-member I I adjustable. Forthis purpose I prefer to use a bolt that is sulficiently long to permita check nut 34 to be used on it between its head and the under side ofthe bar 6, against which the check nut would be tightened up in order tohold the stop-member in a fixed position.

By a slight variation in the structure described, it can be readilyadapted to enable the act of the attendant in putting the spout 32 inthe filling opening 35, to automatically set the valve by exerting abackward pull on the nozzle after the spout 32 has been inserted in thefilling opening. In order to accomplish this, I prefer to provide thelever 9 with an arm 35 that extends upwardly as indicated in Fig. 1 fromthe pivot pin l1, and this arm is pivotally connected to a link 31 whichextends outwardly toward the spout 32 and which, at its forward end, isattached to the rear end of a slide bar 38 which is guided by guidecollars 39 to slide along the under side of the spout. The forward endof this slide is bent to form a finger or hook 40, which may be hookedagainst the edge of the flange II that is usually present, extending atleast partially around the opening; a flange is useful to cooperate withthe cap that normally closes the filling opening. If desired, anotherarm similar to the arm 35, can be carried at the other side of thefilling nozzle, in which case the pin I? would project beyond the sideof the fin l8, and would be rigidly secured to the other arm. If thissecondary arm is employed, a link similar to the link 31 would beattached to it, to connect it also to the end of the slide 38.

When an attendant is using a nozzle such as described, provided with theautomatic actuating dog :29, he can stop pulling back on the nozzle whenhe hears the first click of the tongue 29 when it snaps over theshoulder I3; and if he wishes to set the valve for a shorter time offlow, he would continue the backward pull on the nozzle until he hearsthe tongue snap over the shoulder I4.

It will be noted that the presence of the latch I0 and the stop-memberII on the valve lever 9, does not interfere in any way with the normaluse of the lever 9 to open the valve 4 to its full open position, andmaintained there by pressure against the handle 3|.

In Fig. l, the nozzle is illustrated as resting on the upper side of thetank 33 with the spout 32 extending down into the filling opening 35.The relation of the parts in this view is based upon the assumption thatthe filling opening is disposed in a substantially horizontal plane.However, sometimes the filling opening is disposed in an inclinedposition such as that illustrated in Fig. 2. In this view I illustrate afilling opening inclined as suggested, and I also illustrate a spout 32awhich is inserted in the filling opening, but which is provided with afixed dog or hook 400. which enables the spout to be hung in position insuch a way that it will support the nozzle casing.

By reason of the annular form of the shoulders I3 and I4, it will beevident that in any oriented position of the stop-member I I the tongue29 can always engage the shoulders.

Many other embodiments of the invention may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In filling apparatus for dispensing a liquid through a hose with ahand-nozzle into a tank having a filling opening into which the nozzlemay be inserted; the combination of a spout, a casing carrying the same,a valve in the casing past which the liquid flows, a manually operatedmember on the casing operatively connected with the valve, capable ofmoving the same to its full open position, a spring-biased latchassociated with the manually operated member, and an adjustable stop onthe casing having a shoulder, a dog movably mounted on the side of thespout for engaging the edge of the said opening, and means connectingthe same to said manually operated member; all of said partsco-operating when the dog is pulled against the edge of the opening, tomove said manually operated part to enable the latch to snap over saidshoulder and hold the manually operated member in an intermediateposition with the valve in a partially open position to deliver theliquid at a reduced rate of flow.

2. Filling apparatus according to claim 1, in which the said manuallyoperated member is in the form of a hand lever, and a bracket-barcarried on the casing in which the said adjustable stop is mounted so asto extend toward the manually operated member.

3. In filling apparatus for dispensing a liquid through a hose, with ahand-nozzle, into a tank having a filling opening into which the nozzlemay be inserted: the combination of a spout, a casing carrying the same,a valve in the casing past which the liquid flows, and having a stem, avalve-lever pivotally supported on the casing, engaging the valve stemfor moving the valve toward its open position, a bar on the casing, astop-member mounted on the bar, projecting toward the lever and having ashoulder thereon, a latch-lever movably mounted on the valve-lever,having a latch-tongue and means for yieldingly biasing the latch-leverto hold the tongue substantially in engagement with the stop-member,said parts co-operating when the lever is' moved in a direction to openthe valve, to snap the tongue over the shoulder and thereby set thevalve in a predetermined partially open position to give a predeterminedrate of flow to the liquid passing through the nozzle.

4. In filling apparatus for dispensing a liquid through a hose, with ahand-nozzle, into a tank having a filling opening into which the nozzlemay be inserted: the combination of a spout, a casing carrying the same,a valve in the casing past which the liquid flows, and having a stem, avalve-lever pivotally supported on the casing at a fixed point on thelever, engaging the valve stem for moving the valve toward its openposition, a bar on the casing, a stop-member mounted on the barprojecting transversely to the bar and toward the lever and havingshoulders thereon, a latch-lever pivotally mounted on the valve lever,having a latch tongue to co-operate with the shoulders, resilient meansfor yieldingly biasing the latch lever to hold the tongue substantiallyin engagement with th stop-member, all of said parts co-operating whenthe lever is moved in a direction to open the valve, to enable thetongue on the latch-lever to snap over, and rest against, one of thesaid shoulders, thereby setting the valve in a predetermined partiallyopen position to enable the valve to operate with a predetermined rateof flow for the liquid.

5. Filling apparatus according to claim 4, in which the said stop-memberis in the form of a bolt threaded into the bracket bar, projectingtoward the said lever, the inner end of said bolt having a tapered neckand abrupt shoulders formed adjacent to the tapered neck to co-operatewith the said tongue.

6. Filling apparatus according to claim 3, in which the nozzle isprovided with a fixed dog adapted to engage the edge of the opening tosupport the nozzle when the same has been inserted in the opening.

7. In filling apparatus for dispensing a liquid through a hose, with ahand-nozzle, into a tank having a filling opening into which the nozzlemay be inserted: the combination of a spout, a casing carrying the same,a valve in the casing past which the liquid flows, and having a stem, 2.valve-lever pivotally supported adjacent one of its ends on the casingat a fixed point on the lever, engaging the valve stem at anintermediate point on its length for moving the valve toward its openposition, a bar on the casing, a stopmember mounted on the bar,projecting toward the lever and having a shoulder thereon, a latchlevermovably mounted on the valve-lever, having a latch-tongue and means foryieldingly biasing the latch-lever to hold the tongue substantially inengagement with the stop-member, said parts cooperating when the leveris moved in a direc-' tion to open the valve, to snap the tongue overthe shoulder and thereby set the valve in a predetermined partially openposition to give a predetermined rate of flow to the liquid passingthrough the nozzle.

PAUL E. LEHR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,318,120 Wheaton Oct. '7, 19192,303,179 Sitton et al Nov. 24, 1942 2,367,138 Payne Jan. 9, 1945FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 829,352 France June 24, 1938

